- With Mayo Clinic urologist
Erik Castle, M.D.
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Erik Castle, M.D.
Erik Castle, M.D.
Dr. Erik Castle is a board-certified urologist who joined the Mayo Clinic staff in Arizona in 2007.
Dr. Castle is an associate professor of urology at College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and a senior associate consultant in the Department of Urology, where he also is assistant residency coordinator.
He was an assistant professor in the Department of Urology at Tulane University in New Orleans from 2004 to 2006 after serving as a clinical instructor/fellow at Mayo Clinic in Arizona for one year.
Dr. Castle's research interests include prostate cancer, bladder cancer and kidney cancer. He is the director of the Desert Mountain Prostate Cancer Research Fund and is the principal investigator of Castle labs housed at the Samuel C. Johnson Medical Research building at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. His basic science research is focused on novel secondary hormonal therapies of prostate cancer as well as genomics of prostate and bladder cancer.
His surgical expertise includes laparoscopic urology, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy with nerve sparing, robot-assisted radical cystectomy with neobladder, robot-assisted retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, robot-assisted partial nephrectomy and other robotic urologic oncology procedures. He has performed many of these procedures as demonstrations internationally. He is a member of the American Association of Clinical Urologists, the American Urological Association, the Endourological Society, and the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. He is president of the international Society of Urologic Robotic Surgeons. He is also the director of the international laparoscopic nephrectomy courses throughout Mexico on behalf of the American Urologic Association.
Risk factors (2)
- Vasectomy: Does it increase my risk of prostate cancer?
- Flaxseed: Does it affect risk of prostate cancer?
Tests and diagnosis (2)
- Prostate cancer: Does PSA level affect prognosis?
- Watchful waiting and prostate cancer: What does it mean?
Complications (1)
- Prostate cancer: Can it spread to the pancreas?
Treatments and drugs (3)
- Prostate cancer brachytherapy: Can I pass radiation to others?
- Prostate cancer treatment: Is prostatectomy possible if brachytherapy fails?
- Ginger for chemotherapy-induced nausea: Does it work?
Alternative medicine (1)
- Pomegranate juice: A cure for prostate cancer?
Prevention (2)
- Frequent sex: Does it protect against prostate cancer?
- Prostate cancer vaccine: Is it available?
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Question
Prostate cancer: Can it spread to the pancreas?
Can prostate cancer spread to the pancreas?
Answer
from Erik Castle, M.D.
Prostate cancer is cancer of the walnut-shaped gland in males that produces the fluid that nourishes and transports sperm (seminal fluid). Prostate cancer usually grows slowly. If prostate cancer spreads, it tends to affect the bones and lymph nodes. Spread of prostate cancer to the pancreas is rare. However, it's possible for an advanced case of prostate cancer to spread to any organ — including the pancreas.
Treatment for prostate cancer that has spread may include hormone therapy, radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
Next questionProstate cancer brachytherapy: Can I pass radiation to others?
- Castle EP (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Ariz. Sept. 22, 2008.
- Dawson NA. Overview of treatment for advanced prostate cancer. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 22, 2008.
